Unexpected Christmas Gift
by Sanded Silk
Summary: Sakura seeks out Neji to give him a Christmas gift. NejiSaku


My first NejiSaku ficlet! Merry Christmas to all! And if you're not a Christian... my apologies... o.O -tries to be polite and funny at the same time, but fails miserably-

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, though I wish I do T.T**

-Sanded Silk-

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It was Christmas in Konoha. Of course, everyone took the day off to buy last-minute presents, making a fool of themselves in the stores, and to visit their friends and continue making fools of themselves even then. None of this, however, applied to Hyuuga Neji, who planned on spending the day in the snowy woods with an uninterrupted, whole-day training session. Christmas wasn't an excuse to alter the daily routines of the Hyuuga prodigy; at least, not in his own eyes. 

Thus, the heavily-snowing, bleary day found Neji in the freezing woods, honing his taijutsu skills on a tree trunk. He pulled back from the tree long enough to draw a breath and the moisten his parched lips with an equally-parched tongue, before diving back into the fray he created against the tree.

A pair of emerald eyes, framed with thick cherry-pink lashes, followed and silently sympathized every move the prodigy made. The owner of the emerald eyes hesitantly adjusted her red fur-trimmed coat, shifting in her white medic skirt and tall black boots. In her arms was nestled a white bundle, hidden from sight, behind another extremely lucky tree.

Neji finally backed away gracefully from the now-annihilated tree, swiping at the corner of his mouth with the back of his pale hand, his other hand bracing his weight on his knees. Without shifting his pearl-white eyes, he spoke quietly. "Haruno. I know you're there."

Sakura hesitantly drew near the prodigy, stepping silently around the tree she was hiding behind earlier, clutching her white bundle to her chest. "Er... hello, Neji-san," she said, smiling meekly, dipping her upper body quickly into a half-bow. "I..." Sakura's extremely well-honed intellectual skills seemed to steep out of her like water off the edge of a waterfall, leaving her wordless. Her mouth silently moved, as if forming the words she wanted to say. Neji inclined his head and watched her closely, panting slightly, intensely interested in what she had to say. Sakura expected him to rebuke her harshly, saying that she was wasting his precious time, but he didnt. He merely stood there, barely a foot from her, his foggy breath brushing her cheeks. Sakura squirmed under his intense gaze, blushing despite the cold.

Finally, Sakura firmly brought her lips together into a tight line of embarassment and unfolded the white bundle she held, which happened to be a white scarf. "...thought you might be a bit cold," she finished finally, and stood on her tip-toes to reach out and drape the thick, expensive-feeling cloth around an unexpecting Neji's neck, her elegant fingers brushing his cold jaw. She shivered and pulled her hand away as quickly as possible. Still holding the hand that experienced the coolness of Neji's flesh, Sakura bowed, her upper body dipping too far down this time, and turned on her heel to leave, her face flushed a bright cerise.

Neji looked at his unexpected gift, an eyebrow raised. The scarf was perfectly unblemished. Or so he thought, until an emerald flash on the corner of the fabric. He caught the corner of cloth between his agile fingers and examined the mark closely.

Printed neatly into the fabric with what looked like Sakura's chakra was an emerald cherry blossom. The petals were each small, delicate and seperate from each other. The center of the cherry blossom was a small, perfectly round circle. Neji ran his unbandaged hand over the small emblazon, before he looked up to see Sakura's rapidly-retreating back.

"Haruno," he called suddenly. Sakura stopped abruptly and turned around slowly, but didn't walk back. Neji retrieved a kunai out of nowhere and slashed the white scarf into two halves. Draping the half with Sakura's symbol around his neck, he summoned some of his trademark silvery-blue chakra to the tip of his finger and traced something into the corner of the unblemished half. Then, approaching Sakura, he carefully draped the newly-marked half around her delicate neck, brushing her silken cherry-pink tresses out of the way as he proceeded to wind the material loosely around her neck.

The places where his fingers brushed Sakura's skin tingled pleasantly. Neji drew back, his face still completely blank, before turning and disappearing in a tiny poof and a rustle of clothing.

Sakura reached for the marked corner of her half of the scarf with cold, trembling fingers and examined the tiny symbol Neji had traced. It took her a fraction of a second to recognize the symbol, and when she did recognize it, she drew a sharp breath.

It was the seal on Neji's forehead.

Clutching the suddenly-precious corner in her hands to her chest, Sakura turned in several rapid circles, eyes wide, looking for the Hyuuga prodigy. The snow underneath her quickly became extremely messy as she shifted her booted feet in her rapid circles.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her from behind, and a warm breath tickled her ear and neck. "Later, Haruno," the owner of the arms and tickling break whispered in her ear, before the arms quickly withdrew, and her ear became cold again.

Sakura gasped and whipped around, but no one was there; not even footprints were visible. Still clutching the corner of the scarf, Sakura realized with a start that Neji was watching her with his pearly orbs right that moment. And suddenly, she felt extremely relaxed.

Sakura's knuckles untensed, and her legs returned to normal standing position after having been in a tense fighting stance. Still holding the corner of the expensive fabric, Sakura sighed, smiled to herself, turned in the direction of the village and walked away calmly, feeling the intense gaze of the Hyuuga prodigy on her back as she left.

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A/N: Like? Not like? I'm gonna be working on more NejiSaku stories, so reviews would be nice! I know the ending was abrupt, but I can't figure out what to write without sounding like a blabbermouth... o.O

-Sanded Silk-


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